During the November meeting of the Cambridge City School District Board of Education, Treasurer Ed Wright announced that the 1999 Bond levy that paid for the construction of the “new” schools will be paid off before the end of November.
The maturation of this bond, currently at 1.2 mills, and the required maintenance levy of .5 mills, means property owners in the Cambridge City School District will see a 1.7 mil reduction in their school taxes starting with their tax bills in 2023.
“This is great news for Cambridge City School District and especially for the property owners in the district,” Superintendent Dan Coffman said. “It’s hard to believe that our “new” schools are 20 years old. The good news is that they are still in good shape, and we expect to get many more years of use out of our facilities.”
While the tax revenue for the district will decrease, the expense for the bond payment will go away; however, the district will lose approximately $175,000 annually that has been used to help maintain the buildings.
The district continues to collect four other tax levies including two current expense levies approved in 1976 and 1983, an emergency operating levy from 2012 and a permanent improvement levy.
Also included in the treasurer’s report were two significant donations, both anonymous. There was a donation of $12,000 to the STEM Program and a donation of $2,000 to the Choir program. Cambridge City School District appreciates all donations to the district.
During the Superintendent’s report, Coffman updated board members on the lockdown that occurred in the district earlier in the week following a threatening phone call.
“I want to thank our local law enforcement, school resource officers, administrators, teachers and staff for their response to keep our students safe,” Coffman said. “We need to praise our students and families for their cooperation as well. Our students have been through drills in the past and responded appropriately in a scary situation.
“Thankfully, this treat was not credible,” Coffman added. “As a district we need to treat each threat as if it is credible and respond accordingly.”
In other business, the board approve an overnight trip to the Columbus Convention for a group of students to attend the FCCLA National Fall Conference; approved an agreement between the East Central Ohio Educational Service Center and the school district to provide educational services for CCSD students attending Cedar Ridge Academy.
In personnel matters, the board approved the resignation of Lois Ault as a bus driver; the hiring of Lisa Daugherty for the mid-day van route; the hiring of Tammy Engle for the mid-day van aide; the unpaid leave of absence for Jan LePage, Linda Carpenter, and Jennifer Ball; unpaid medical leave for Daniel Seckel; the hiring of Linnie Deeks as administrative secretary at CIS.
The board also approved the hiring of Jordan Ball as classroom aide at CPS; Lisa Daugherty as substitute aide for the CATS Club After School program; Julie Todd and Sharon Bishop as substitute clerical/aide; Jennifer Rogers as the Title I/Kindergarten Classroom Aide at CPS.
The board approved the paternity leave for Tyler Cota, the unpaid leave of absence for Jensen Lanning; the hiring of Darianne Snyder, Lisa Cunningham and Cindy Pollock as teachers for the CATS Club After School program; the hiring of Erica Smith as a CATS Club After School program substitute teacher; Emily Regan as a substitute teacher.
The board approved Michele Haverfield as the resident educator lead mentor; and the following resident educator mentors:
Year 1 Mentors
Jodie Neff................................................... (Mentee – Sophie Blattner)
Bethany Tuttle............................................. (Mentee – Kirstin Carpenter)
April Childers............................................... (Mentee – Skylar Flinn)
Michelle Johnston........................................ (Mentee – Jensen Lanning)
Kim Wood................................................... (Mentee – Amanda Miller)
Allie Wojciechowski...................................... (Mentee – Marissa Ritz)
Charlotte Khune........................................... (Mentee – Haley Stalnaker)
Bob Willis.................................................... (Mentee – Dana Todd)
Christine Claggett........................................ (Mentee – Kylie Tucker)
Jodi Neff..................................................... (Mentee – Tag Tucker)
Year 2 Mentors
Alisha Colon................................................ (Mentee – Aaron Beatty)
Ann Sherry.................................................. (Mentee – Cammi Bunting)
Kasey Wharton............................................ (Mentee – Aurora Dollins)
April Castello............................................... (Mentee – Brynn Frame)
Jodi McGuire............................................... (Mentee – Darianne Snyder)
Year 3 Facilitators
Michelle Johnston........................................ (Mentee – Madison Meeker)
Allie Wojciechowski...................................... (Mentee – Marlo Barker)
Carrie Spung............................................... (Mentee – Kyle Pertuset)
The board approved the following volunteers for the 2022-2023 school year: Tricia Fordyce, Tiffani Poole, Brianna Herman, Sarah Finnicum, Sheryl Cunningham, Laurel Piper, Brandon Matthews, and Jeffrey Bergeson.
In athletics, the board approved the hiring of Chelsie Coleman as eight grade girls’ basketball coach. The board also approved the following as athletic volunteers for the 2022-2023 school year: Ryan Murphy, Ryan Ford, James Neff, Kenny Hickman, Christopher Pettit, Shawn Mobelini, Jeremy Tolbert, Ross Carley.
The next board meeting will be on Thursday, December 15, 2022, at 5 p.m. at the Garfield Administrative Center.